


Splashguard

by SpoolsnSpoons



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Basically an episode, Can't Transform!, Chat Noir is on his own, Miraculous Fluff Month 2018, Missing Miraculous, One Shot, That ended up being longer than I anticipated, Will Marinette find it in time?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 07:16:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15601116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpoolsnSpoons/pseuds/SpoolsnSpoons
Summary: Marinette is having fun with her friends at the pool, until she loses one of her earrings, just in time for an akuma to show up. Will she find it in time to help Chat Noir defeat the akuma?





	Splashguard

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my contribution to Miraculous Fluff Month  
> August 4th Prompt: Can't Transform

_Sploooosh!_

Marinette, Rose, and Juleka cringed away from the water that splashed them where they sat at the edge of the pool. Kim had just performed a cannonball off of the diving board. He and Alix were betting on who could make the biggest splash. So far, they had tied the first round and had each won one round since. They were going for the best out of five rounds and Kim just kicked off round four. Most everyone figured that it would be an easy win for Kim, due to his size, but Alix knew how to spread her body just right in order to get the most cast off, so they had remained neck and neck.

When the competition started, nobody else at the pool besides the group, but a few people had since arrived. A family with two small children, who mostly stayed in the shallow end, had arrived first. When Rose asked them if they were being a bother, the parents had said the opposite, telling her that we were actually rather encouraging to their children. A young couple had also showed up, but they had been simply swimming laps and didn't seemed to notice the group at all.

Kim swam over to the edge of the pool where the group was seated. They had quite the turn out. Besides the two competitors and Marinette; Alya, Nino, Max, Rose, Juleka, Mylène, and Ivan had all shown up. Nath, Marc, and Adrien were the only one that hadn't been able to make it. Nath and Marc didn't want to go, neither of them being enthusiastic about swimming, and Adrien, of course, was at a photo shoot. Kim started climbing up the ladder on the other side of Nino, and wiped the water from his face with his hand.

"It appears that this round has been your personal best, Kim," Max stated, looking up from the floor and readjusting his glasses as he spoke.

"Alright!" Kim shouted, pumping the air with his fist as he walked over to where Max was standing. He pointed a finger at his competitor, who was now standing on the diving board. "Let's see you beat _that,_ Alix!"

Alix scowled down at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That won't be difficult!" She said, then paused briefly as she dropped her arms and readied herself for her turn. "You'd better take notes, Kim!"

Marinette shifted her eyes from Alix to Kim. He had been intensely focused on Alix, but at her last remark, he dropped his gaze to the floor, shaking his head. She thought she heard him mumble something unintelligible about 'taking notes'.

It was then that she noticed an elderly man walk in. He was dressed in his swimwear, goggles resting on his forehead, and a towel draped around his shoulders. The man stopped abruptly, as if remembering something, then turned around and walked back towards the locker room. Marinette shrugged and turned back to towards the pool to watch Alix's turn, but was met half way with a wall of water. She pushed the air out of her cheeks to blow the water away from her nose and lips then wiped the rest away with both hands as Kim let out a gasp of disbelief.

"Well," Max began, "it would appear that she has tied with you again, Kim."

The group's reaction was a mix between laughter and cheering at Max's statement. It was amusing to watch Kim get matched or bested by someone half his size. Kim made his way to the diving board for his final turn. Alix popped up from the water beside Marinette, causing her to start.

"So?" Alix asked, shaking her head to rid herself of water. "How'd I do that time?" She looked at Marinette with her eyebrows raised questioningly. 

"You tied him again." Marinette replied.

Alix slapped the surface of the water with her hand, scowling again.

"Darn. I wanted to wipe the floor with him, but all we've only managed to keep even with each other." She pulled herself out of the water and went to stand next to Max. Marinette noticed the elderly man had returned and was putting his towel down on a nearby chair before walking towards the pool. Alya and Nino seemed to notice at the same time. All three sets of eyes grew wide as the man walked between the pool and where Max and Alix stood, right through the splash zone, seemingly oblivious to the competition.

The trio scrambled, bodies bumping together as they jumped off of the wall and into the pool in unison, shouting their warnings. It was too late. Kim was already poised for his jump and too focused to hear them. Alya and Marinette, who had jumped further into the center of the pool than Nino, both rushed back towards the side of the pool to get out of Kim's way, but they bumped heads in their rush. Alya's hair was wrapped around Marinette's left earring. Marinette's fingers fumbled to untangle the mess, but she didn't notice that, even thought the post was still in her ear, the back had fallen off in the process.

The raven haired girl hoisted herself out of the water, not bothering with the ladder, and hurried over to the elderly gentleman, who had just been soaked by the result of Kim's cannonball. She put her hand on his shoulder as he was obviously irritated by what had happened.

"Monsieur, are you okay?" she asked, but she knew it was too late. His head snapped up and his eyes focused on something that no one else could see. She took a tentative step back. _Oh, no,_ she thought, _I missed where the akuma landed!_

"Yes, Hawkmoth," the man said as he was enveloped by the villainous magic.

"Akuma!" Marinette warned "Everyone, get somewhere safe! Hurry!" She surveyed the room for somewhere to transform. It looked like no one was heading for the women's locker room, in favor of leaving the building all together and heading outside, so that's where she went. Tikki was already in there, anyway, hiding in Marinette's belongings.

"Tikki!" She called urgently, not worried about being heard knowing no one had followed her. Her kwami quickly floated into view with a puzzled look on her face. "Fun and games are over now, I have to transform, fast! Tikki, spots on!" They both anticipated an instant transformation, but nothing happened.

"What's going on? Why can't I transform?" Marinette frantically asked, but she could tell that the deity had no more idea than she did. Tikki's indigo eyes were full of worry.

"I don't know, Marinette. This has never happened before."

Marinette's hands flew up to her ears. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp when her left index finger met nothing but her earlobe.

"Oh, no! Tikki! My earring! It's _missing_!"

 

* * *

 

 

Adrien's photographer looked up from his camera as the akuma alert sounded throughout the city.

"Adrien, we'll have to finish up this shoot another time," Nathalie said. "We need to get you home."

"Okay, Nathalie," Adrien replied, nodding his head. "Is it okay if I just run to the bathroom before we leave?"

Nathalie sighed and looked down at her tablet.

"Yes, but hurry," she said after a brief pause. "We'll be outside, waiting in the car." Nathalie walked out of the room with Gorilla in tow. No one was in sight, as the photographer had already left, so he didn't bother pretending to head to the bathroom and went about looking for his kwami.

"Plagg?" Adrien called.

"Do we _have_ to? Can't we let Ladybug handle this one on her own?" Plagg whined, the sound of his voice slightly muffled by whatever he was hiding behind. Adrien decided it would be easier to coax Plagg out of hiding instead of continuing his search, so he walked over to his bag and pulled out a small hunk of Camembert. He held it up into the air and spoke in the direction Plagg's voice had come from.

"You know we can't do that, Plagg. Come on, Ladybug needs me. I could never let her fight an akuma on her own." He stood there for a moment and waited for the deity to reply, but continued speaking when he was met with silence. "Once we're done, and the akuma's been purified, I'll give you a whole wheel of Camembert."

That seemed to do the trick as his kwami came into view then, his head poking out from behind a stack of boxes. He flew over to where Adrien was holding the cheese, but when he reached for it, his paws snatched at nothing but air. Adrien had pulled the cheese away and stuffed it into his pocket.

" _After_ the akuma _,_ Plagg. Claws out!" The blond was engulfed in green light as the magic of his miraculous transformed him into Chat Noir. He retrieved his staff from his back and ran towards the exit.

Once outside, it was easy to figure out the general area where the akuma attack was happening. People usually ran in the opposite direction and police cars did their best to block off the area, which only worked some of the time. Taking off in the direction of the commotion, he noticed a family with two small children, all of them wearing only their swimwear. His heart sank. He could think of only one reason anyone would leave the pool without some much as a towel.

 _I hope my friends are okay,_ he thought as he headed towards the community pool. He knew that most of his friends were hanging out there today and hoped that they made it out in time, just as the family had appeared to.

Sure enough, standing in front of the building that housed the pool, was a man dressed in a - a... was that a _rain poncho_ over his swimwear _?_ Wielding a _pool vacuum?_ Well, that was a new one for Hawkmoth.

"Chat Noir! I want your Miraculous!" the akuma victim shouted. "Where is your bug friend? I want hers, as well!" Did he sound elderly? _Jeez, Hawkmoth really needs to start choosing his battles differently. He must just be desperate, lately,_ the hero thought. And what did he mean 'where was his bug friend'? Ladybug was usually first on the scene, so Chat Noir was surprised to learn that she hadn't been here yet. He did his best not to worry about her.

"Don't you think that I should at least know your name before you start asking for my ring?" he jested. The akuma scowled.

"I am Splashguard," he said. " _No one_ will be splashed on my watch." Just then, the man caught of Kim and turned towards him . " _You_ are the one who splashed me!" Kim's eyes widened. "I'll take care of you first!" His vacuum switched on as he pushed the end of its hose at his target. Chat Noir lunged at Splashguard, causing the man to turn his attention, and hose, towards the hero himself. Kim took immediate notice and ran off down the street.

"I know getting splashed sucks and all, but don't you think that this is a bit extreme?" He asked Splashguard. He could only guess what would happen if the man got too close with that vacuum hose. Chat Noir took off running, Splashguard following closely behind him, and retrieved his baton to call Ladybug, who was still nowhere to be found. This was not like her and he was beginning to think that something was seriously wrong. The call wouldn't go through which meant that she wasn't transformed.

The hero turned to engage the akuma victim, thinking that he probably wouldn't chase him around forever. He hoped that he could find what the akuma was inhabiting. Could it be the pool vacuum? Spinning just out of the hose's reach and jumping behind Splashguard, he started to call for his destructive power, but was caught off guard by the sight of a large red bug flying towards his face. No, not a bug. That definitely had to be Ladybug's kwami, he had no doubt.

"Chat Noir!" she said in a high pitched voice. "Ladybug sent me to tell you that she's okay and she's sorry that she isn't here with you right now. One of her earrings is lost, so she can't transform until it's found. She also said to tell you that when the victim was akumatized, he was only wearing his swimsuit and goggles. She didn't see where the akuma went, but her guess is the goggles. Good luck, Chat!" and the little red deity flew off before he had a chance to respond.

 _The goggles, huh?_ he thought. Well, her guess would more than likely be right, especially if he didn't have the pool vacuum before he was akumatized. It made sense to him. He heard the whir of the vacuum close to the back of his head as he was turning back towards the man, and jumped out of the way, colliding with the man by mistake. He quickly spun around to face Splashguard as he formed somewhat of a plan in his mind.

"Cataclysm!"

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette was searching everywhere. She had looked in the pool, along the floor near the pool and in the locker room, but had come up empty. How would they purify the akuma if she couldn't transform? How would Chat Noir defeat the poor man without her? She hated the thought of him battling without her. They were a team! He shouldn't have to do this on his own, especially not even knowing where she was, and she had had no way of letting him know about the situation without revealing herself. It had dawned on her, though, that Tikki could take him a message without giving her identity away, so that was what the kwami had done.

Now, she was waiting for Tikki to come back. Marinette's plan was to see if her kwami could phase through the grate of the filter and search there for the missing jewelry. This plan was her last resort. She continued to look while she waited. Searching the floor near the pool, near the ladder, looking frantically for the missing half of her miraculous. Before long, Tikki flew into view.

"Tikki! Did you find Chat? Is he okay?" She asked.

"Yes, I did, and he seemed to be okay." Her kwami replied.

"Okay, Tikki, I have a plan. Can you hold your breath under water?"

"Yes, but didn't you already look along the floor of the pool?"

"I did, but now I'm wondering if it fell down into the grate of the filter. Do you think that you could phase through it and look there?"

Tikki nodded and dove straight down, not wasting any time in following her charge's plan. She reemerged about a minute later, hands empty.

"It's down there! I'll be right back with it!" She exclaimed.

Marinette crouched down on her knees and leaned over the edge of the pool to watch Tikki recover her earring. It didn't take long at all for her to come back to the surface with said jewelry in hand. She landed in Marinette's cupped hands.

"Are you okay?" Marinette asked her kwami, who nodded in response, holding the stud out for her. Before putting it back into place in her earlobe, Marinette kissed the top of Tikki's head and thanked her.

Once her miraculous was back in place, she called for her transformation, then immediately pulled her yo-yo from her hip and located her partner.

 _Good,_ she thought, _he's not too far away._ She really hoped that Chat was still okay. Ladybug ran out of the pool house and tossed her yo-yo out to the lamp post, vaulting herself towards where her partner's location was indicated. When she reached him, he was sitting on the curb next to the elderly gentleman, who was no longer under Hawkmoth's influence. It looked like Chat had something cupped in his hands as he reassured the man beside him. He looked up as he saw her approach.

"Ladybug!" He called, standing to his feet. "I have a gift to you," he gestured his cupped hands towards her with a grin, "though it's not exactly the gift I had in mind." He walked over to her a slowly opened his hands, releasing the purple butterfly from his grasp. Ladybug traced the back of her yo-yo and swung it upwards, catching and purifying the akuma.

"Bye bye, little butterfly," she bid as she released it. She had no need to call upon her restorative powers as she normally did. It appeared that absolutely nothing in the city had been destroyed, which made her beam with pride at her partner as she turned to face him. "I'm sorry that you had to do all of that on your own, though it looks like you had no problem. I'm _so_ glad that you're okay! You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"Not one hair out of place, my Lady," he replied. She smiled at that. "Splashguard was fairly easy to deal with, but I couldn't _pawssibly_ fight another battle without you, Bugaboo." Ladybug rolled her eyes at that. Chat's miraculous chirped and they both looked down at his ring. He only had two pads left.

"Well, I hate to cut this short, but I gotta run! Until next time, my Lady." He gave her a bow, then leapt away, spinning his baton over his head and disappeared from view. Ladybug looked around, then dipped into a nearby alleyway to detransform. Tikki landed in her hands.

"Oh, Tikki," Marinette began, "let's not go through that again." The deity nodded in response and nuzzled into her charge's cheek.

"Marinette!" She looked up to find Alya and Nino running towards her, Tikki had already hidden in her pigtails.

"Girl, you would not _believe_ what just went down!" Alya excitedly told her. Marinette chuckled and readied herself for her best friend's recount of what she had just experienced, or rather, what _Chat_ had just experienced. She hoped, though, that some of the details would remain vague to everyone besides her and her partner.

**Author's Note:**

> I was basing the fact that Tikki was still with Marinette after her earring went missing on the episode in which Adrien loses his ring and Plagg is still around.


End file.
